by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

Ranked fourth in the Bowl Championship Series standings, Ohio State's road to the national championship game demands losses from two among Alabama, Oregon and Florida State â?? leaving the Buckeyes and one other team undefeated at the end of the regular season.

In the meantime, the Buckeyes can attempt to make up ground with beauty points. Like Florida State, which has racked up wins with style in Atlantic Coast Conference play, and Oregon, which has cruised through the Pac-12, the Buckeyes' 56-0 win at Purdue was the sort of performance that could make voters stand up and take notice.

The final score does little to explain the Buckeyes' dominance: Ohio State went up 42-0 at halftime, at which point coach Urban Meyer inserted mostly reserves, and outgained the Boilermakers 640 yards to 116. Up next, OSU should do the same to Indiana and Illinois before playing rival Michigan in the regular-season finale.

Here are more winners and losers from Saturday's college football games:

WINNERS

South Carolina: A victory against Mississippi State, one aided greatly by the Bulldogs' five turnovers, allowed South Carolina to maintain some pace in the hunt for the SEC East Division championship. To win the division, the Gamecocks need to beat Florida on Nov. 16 and see Missouri lose once down the stretch, perhaps to Texas A&M in the season finale. But even if South Carolina comes up short, this team seems to be saving its best football for November.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin's BCS hopes also are contingent on Ohio State: OSU must reach the national championship game to earn the Big Ten a second BCS berth. If the Buckeyes reach the title game, the Badgers could very well earn a spot in the Rose Bowl with an at-large bid. That would demand a 10-2 regular season, something that seems readily achievable given the way Wisconsin cruised past Iowa 28-9.

Navy: Navy might have lost to Notre Dame, falling 38-34 after failing to convert a fourth-down try with 1:08 left, but the Midshipmen can find silver lining in Army's loss to Air Force. An Army loss is always cause for celebration at Navy; in this case, however, the Cadets' loss gives Navy possession of the Commander in Chief's Trophy for another year regardless of the outcome of the pair's end-of-year rivalry. It was one win on an otherwise disappointing day for the Midshipmen.

LOSERS

Michigan: Losing to rival Michigan State means no bragging rights until at least next season, which hurts, but the immediate damage inflicted by the Spartans' dominating 29-6 win was felt in Michigan's disappearing Rose Bowl hopes. Now 2-2 in Big Ten play, the Wolverines stand well behind the eight ball in the Legends Division. With the Spartans sitting pretty at 5-0, Michigan is playing for a secondary January bowl.

Virginia Tech:

In some ways, the Hokies' decline since the start of the 2012 season serves as evidence of the ACC's growth as a conference â?? as Virginia Tech now finds far tougher sledding against teams like Duke and Boston College. But Saturday's loss to the Eagles, the Hokies' second loss in a row, serves as greater evidence of the program's lack of identity on offense. Although the defense remains solid, the Hokies simply cannot move the ball effectively on offense.

TCU: It wasn't supposed to be this way: TCU was expected to step right into the Big 12 and compete, taking the same formula the program used to such great success in the Mountain West Conference and parlaying it into immediate BCS contention. After Saturday's loss, TCU is thinking less about a BCS bowl and more about any bowl â?? and at 3-6, it will take a November run to secure postseason eligibility.

Paul Myerberg, a national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @PaulMyerberg.